This
course explores the cultural patterns and problems of Pacific Islanders, with a
focus on the political, economic, and social dynamics among the peoples of
Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia.It considers:How can we make
sense of the Pacific and its diverse peoples?What are the different ways Westerners have come to know and write about
the region?How has the region and its
peoples changed through time?

TIME: WEDNESDAY 5:15-8:10

INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Robert Borofsky

OFFICE
HOURS:Just before class and
after class for as long as help is needed.I would encourage students to call me at home if they have questions or
problems that need immediate resolution.My telephone number is 263-0902.If I am not in (or am in the middle of a
long distance call) please leave a message and I will get back to you by the
end of the day.My e-mail address is: borofsky@hpu.edu.My fax number is 261-9092.
My WEBSITE, if you are interested, is: www.publicanthropology.org

TEXTS:

a.Adventuring
in The Pacific: A Sierra Club Travel Guide by Susanna Margolis

This
book provides an overview of the Pacific as seen through the eyes of a travel
writer.Margolis provides introductory
glimpses to the Pacific's different island groups and draws us into exploring a
key question in the course:How might
we best learn about the Pacific - through travel guides, through anthropological
ethnographies, through novels?

b.Tahitians:
Mind and Experience in the Society Islands by Robert Levy

This flowing, thoughtful description
of Tahitian psycho-dynamics is a classic.We gain a sense of Tahitians as individuals and come to understand what
is meant by the Buber quote at the book's beginning: "What a good and
bright world this is if we do not lose our hearts to it, but what a dark world
if we do."

c.Fruit of the Motherland: Gender in an
Egalitarian Society by Maria Lepowsky

The
book combines an ethnography of the Melanesian Vanatinai with a broader
question regarding male/female equality.It suggests that males and females can indeed be "equal" and
considers the conditions and contexts that foster such equality.Because of the issue raised, it has garnered
tremendous public attention.

d.Making
History: Pukapukan and Anthropological Constructions of Knowledge by Robert
Borofsky

Written as an ethnographic puzzle, the
book examines how indigenous inhabitants and outside anthropologists construct
differing accounts of a Polynesian atoll's past.The focus is on how both groups "make history" in the
process of "preserving" the atoll's traditions.

e.Remembrance
of Pacific Pasts: An Invitation to Remake History by Robert Borofsky

The challenge today in discussing “the
past” is how to bring diverse points of views (embodying different political
perspectives) together in a common conversation rather than split them apart in
separate camps.As Claude Lévi-Strauss
asserts, Remembrance of Pacific Pasts “turns widely different points of view
into an asset.The narrative ceases
being linear [with one fact following another].We have instead a multidimensional history that the reader must approach
from several angles and the meaning of which, like that of a musical piece, is
apprehended globally.”

An award winning history of a Maori
leader.Explores not only how Maori
coped with Western “development” during the nineteenth century but how one
might effectively write a history of an important, problematic figure in a way
that does justice to the different sources, different narratives, that describe
him.

g.Tales
of the Tikongs by Epeli Hau'ofa

A
humorous indigenous perspective on the dynamics of development in the
Pacific.Using a light touch, Hau'ofa
raises important questions about in what ways and to what degree, development
actually "develops" a country.

h.Sons for the Return Home by Albert
Wendt

A
love story, between a Samoan immigrant and a New Zealand girl.Provides insight into the adjustments
Polynesians must make as they try to balance traditional values against Western
ones.

I.The
Edge of Paradise: America in Micronesia by P. F. Kluge

A
reflective, personal account of the American colonial and post-colonial
experience in Micronesia.The ironies
inherent in development and underdevelopment, in change and continuity become
clearer in this volume.

j..Potiki
by Patricia Grace

A
novel by a New Zealand Maori writer regarding Maori-Pakeha relations.The novel, winner of the 1987 New Zealand
Fiction Award, explores how Maori are adapting to change - and, in the process,
attempting to preserve a sense of cultural identity.Seeing the process of change through an indigenous perspective
provides an interesting comparison to the perspectives presented by Kluge and
by Errington and Gewertz.

k.The
Papalangicollected by E.
Scheurmann

A
Western impression of how a Samoan might describe Europe if he or she were to
write an ethnography about it.The book
raises questions regarding how Pacific Islanders perceive the European way of
life and how Europeans perceive Pacific Islanders perceiving Europeans.

UNITS

1.Writing
About “Others” in the Pacific (Weeks 1-7)

2.The
Changing Pacific (Weeks 8-14)

GRADES:

1.There will be TWO ESSAY EXAMS, one at the end of each unit.Each
essay exam will be worth30% of the total grade.

a.Students are allowed to take over the first
unit exam - to improve their grade - under the following conditions:

1.to qualify for retaking an exam, a
student must obtain at least a score of 50.Students who simply take an exam without studying for it and fail
with a score of 49 or below will not be allowed to retake the exam.

2.the make-up exam must be taken the
next class after the initial exam is returned (to prevent procrastination).

3.if a student fails to show up for an
exam, without having obtained prior permission to do so, the student will be
considered to have failed the exam with a zero grade and no possibility will
exist for retaking it.

2.There will be ONE FIFTEEN PAGE PAPERworth
25% of the total grade.

a.the paper must be typed and presented in a
professional manner appropriate to a college level course.

1.the paper will be graded in terms of(a) coherent organization -
following the method outlined in class, (b)
appropriate grammar and spelling, and, most importantly, (c) degree to which it creatively integrates class readings,
discussions, and the students own innovative ideas to provide a focused paper
that thoughtfully and cogently argues a particular position.

2.papers under ten pages are
unacceptable and will have to be redone by the student to obtain a passing
grade.

3.papers passed in late, without a
reasonable excuse, will have points deducted from the student's grade.

3.A
LEARNING ASSESSMENT - a written assessment of what you have learned in the
course is worth 5% of the total
grade.

1.The
assessment consists of a form with the learning outcomes cited above.Students will summarize to what degree they
have achieved the specified learning outcomes and provide supporting data that
confirm these statements.

2.The
form will be passed out near the beginning of the course so students can track
their learning outcomes as they progress through the course.

4.PARTICIPATION
IN CLASS DISCUSSIONS will be worth
10% of the total grade.Allowances
will be made for the range of diverse personalities that exist in any class -
from shy to verbose - but the student is expected to express an involvement in
topics of concern to the class.

a.Class lectures and discussions are crucial
to the learning process in the course.Students
are strongly encouraged to attend all classes (unless having obtained prior
permission from the instructor).

b.Students should know that more than ONE
absence from class - without receiving the instructor's prior consent -
will seriously affect their grade.

5.Students caught cheating on an exam or
plagiarizing on the paper will automatically fail the course

RELATION OF COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES AND THE MEANS FOR EVALUATING THEM
TO THE UNIVERSITY’S FIVE THEMES:

"Communication:

-students
will be able to effectively write a paper that integrates their readings and
personal ideas into a coherent argument.Each paragraph will be thoughtfully constructed and the paragraphs will
flow together to form a coherent argument. [fifteen page paper]

-students
will be able to speak effectively about their ideas in class discussions
[small group and class discussions]

"Global
Systems:

-students
will be able to explain the complexities of and impacts from “development” in
the Pacific [fifteen page paper, class discussions for weeks 9-13, and/or second
exam]

"World
Cultures:

-students
will be able to describe something of the range of cultures in the Pacific as
well as explain key complexities involved in representing Pacific islanders to
“Outlanders” as well as themselves [fifteen page paper, class discussions for
weeks 2-6, and/or first exam]

12.November 20:NO CLASS(I will be at the American Anthropological Association’s Meeting
in New Orleans)

READING ASSIGNMENT:

!Borofsky’s Remembrance of Pacific Pasts- Section Two (pp. 101-172)

13. November 27:Lynette Cruz

READING ASSIGNMENT:

!Margolis's Adventuring in The Pacific
(pages 161-205)

!Hau'ofa's Tales of the Tikongs
(complete book)

!Grace’s Potiki (complete book)

DISCUSSION

!What
are the varied meanings and faces of “development” in the Pacific

!Can
one sort out the positives from the negatives regarding “development”?Is development an all or nothing
experience?How does one “survive”
being developed?

13. December 4: Brandon Ledward & Joe Esser

READING ASSIGNMENT:

!Borofsky’s Remembrance of Pacific Pasts

DISCUSSION:

!How
does one write effectively about the Pacific, its peoples, and its pasts

14. December 11:

!ESSAY
EXAM

by December 15 (5:00 pm):

FIFTEEN PAGE PAPER DUE

!You
have read a range of books relating to the Pacific.One set of readingsconsiders issues of representation: How one describes people different
from oneself?Who can or should speak
for whom in the Pacific?

The second set of readings deals
with issues of “change”.And again the
same questions arise but in slightly different form.

If
you were to write a book or to teach a course on the Pacific, how would you
approach these issues.Specifically:
How would you handle the problem of engaging with “others” different from
yourself?How would you address the
politics of representation regarding who can (or has a right to) speak for whom
about the past, present, and future?How would you address issues of “objectivity” - telling it “like it is
(or was)”?And how would you convey the
qualities of the Pacific that make it such a special place?

Please remember that to write an effective
paper you need to integrate your readings and personal ideas into a coherently,
argued position.Each paragraph should
be thoughtfully constructed (in terms of its theme, elaboration, and supporting
data) and the paragraphs should flow together to form an effective argument.